Chapter Text
“I look ridiculous in this,”
Which is true, because white completely doesn’t suit her and this entire nurse uniform, even down to the seams are white. Not only that, the rest of the ensemble she was simply unfamiliar with; the clip-on hat probably should’ve been the easiest to figure out, but it kept slipping from the top of her head, and it’s the same thing with her stockings. She didn’t even know why she had to use stockings and how the garters works, and the heels she was given were uncomfortable.
She’s sure she looked like a mess, with none of the lithe elegance seen in the other nurses, but the way the man leaning by the infirmary door looked at her made her believe otherwise for a split second. Sky blue eyes raked up and down her entire body, eyes calculating and maybe even appreciative, “I’d disagree. You look marvelous,”
“You sure you’re looking right?” her tone was snippy, but with a wince, she noticed the tremor in the middle of her sentence. His tone was so warm, and his smile even more so, that she can feel her face growing hot. He’s an attractive man, that she can tell even when she still regarded everyone on this ship as an enemy, and the fact that he’s one of the most kindest ones to her so far didn’t help. To distract herself, she tried to adjust her hat, but they slipped one more time and only her quick reflexes managed to catch the damn thing before it fell.
But before she can try to put it back on, a pair of feet entered her periphery, and she looked up to see him standing much closer, “May i?” he raised one hand to her direction, palm upturned right next to the hand holding the treacherous hat. Without hesitation or looking away from his gentle gaze, she handed it to him, taking a deep breath in hope that it’ll mask the sound of her skipping heartbeat.
With the hat now in hand, he raised both of his arm, using one to run his fingers through her hair. It was such a calming movement, but she did her best to resist leaning to him, focusing her eyes simply on the enormous emblem etched on his chiseled, exposed chest.
A mixture of emotion flooded her, prominently pride, anxiety, and maybe a little doubt. She’s one of the Whitebeard Pirates now, even though she’s not quite a pirate. The same crew that was her father’s rival, one of the Yonko and the strongest in the seas, whose captain knew of her well kept secret and yet still accept her with open arms. And above that, she’s a nurse. Someone whose duty involves healing people and help them recover from injuries. Her, probably the most reckless person she knew in her own life.
Despite all of her best efforts, she still ended up in the seas after all.
A hand left her hair, but not before it ran through the dark tresses once more, “All done,” she heard him whisper, and tilted her head up to notice that indeed, her hat didn’t slip down again. Her attention on the now fully secured hat was gone, however, once her eyes met his, and when she felt his other hand on the side of her cheek, cradling her face gently, “Portgas D. Ann, full-fledged nurse of the Whitebeard Pirates. Has quite the ring to it, doesn’t it?”
That’s what she is now, isn’t it? That title, ridiculous as it sounds, beats ‘Portgas D. Ann, that waitress who’ll knock you out with a tankard if you look at her funny’ or ‘Portgas D. Ann, that demon child who should never have existed’.
A new identity. A new life. A new meaning.
“Well, considering all of the training and reading i had to do these past months, i deserved that, that’s for sure,” she said instead, looking back down to herself. Right as she moved one of her leg to get a better view, the stocking slid down again, and she groaned, “Think you can fix that one too? I don’t even know how to keep them up right and what those garters are for,”
Out of all the possible reaction he could give, she didn’t expect a light flush to appear on his cheeks and for him to stutter, “That… i don’t think i should help you with,”
“Why not? You don’t know how to do it?” It does seems rather complicated, especially with those suspender-like clips. The nurse from earlier did say it’s not necessary for her to wear it, but everyone else does, and she’s actually a little intrigued about it. She already had the weird suspender thing on under her uniform, still hanging loose underneath her skirt, not quite sure how that thing fits with the dark see through stockings she was given.
When she told him this, he cleared his throat and shook his head, but instead of losing the blush, his face only grows redder, “I, uh, I can just… tell you how to do it. It’s not that complicated,”
“Can’t you just show me? I don’t even know if i had the belt on right,”
“No, no, that’s… that would be inappropriate for me to do,”
It’s rather weird that he started talking about what’s appropriate or not right now, after they kidnapped her against her will, and she had spent several months seeing them fulfilling some pirate stereotypes to a tee. In the end, she shrugged, noting curiously that his face had gone even redder during the few seconds of silence and when she lifted the hem of her skirt up to the point where the clips became visible, “Fine, teach me how to do this. I’ve never done this before,”
“Y-yeah. Just, move your feet a little so i can get a better look,”
“Marco, you’re not even looking at me, how are you supposed to get a better look?”
“I.. I can see just fine, just move a bit closer,”
“Y-you she-devil! Don’t come any closer!”
Watching the marine flag pathetically sinking along with the rest of the battleship was symbolic of their defeat in the hand of the Whitebeard Pirates, in her opinion.
She must admit, she’s starting to understand why even the most bumbling fool on this ship was still feared by the marines and pirates alike. They fought with mighty strength and great coordination, with one division easily overpowering even a fleet and with their captain capable of destroying much more without even moving from his seat. The casualty from their side were merely the canon-crushed railings, which were now fixed with efficiency, and several minor bruises and injuries that she’s tending to.
And him. What a magnificent display.
“Amazing, ain’t he?”
The voice next to her brought her down from her reverie, and she turned to find a large grin on scarred face, “He’s usually not that showy, you know. He’s more of a ‘quick death from above’ type of fighter, but today, with all of that gliding and fancy moves, i’m starting to think he’s putting on a show for someone,” the scarred man wiggled his brow, his pompadour almost bobbing along with that gesture, “And i think i just found out who he’s showing off to,”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she brusquely dismiss him, throwing her face away and exaggeratedly reaching over for some extra antiseptic when really, she’s trying to hide the fact that her face turns hot.
The cackle the man gave clearly told her he’s not fooled, but before he can say something, a new voice interjected, “Thatch, stop bothering the nurses taking care of you. There are others who needed to be looked after as well,”
“I literally just sat down, Marco, Ann’s not even finish with cleaning up my cut,” she can’t see his face, but she knew the auburn haired man next to her still retain his grin, just from his tone alone, “And what others? I’m the only one left. Unless you’re here to also get patched up but— Oh, wait a second,”
“Thatch,” With her head bowed down, forcing herself to see nothing else but the shallow cut she needs to work on, she missed the reason for that stern tone.
“Fiiine. Sorry, Ann, you’re my favorite nurse and all but we hafta make this quick and be rid of my charming presence because obviously you’re also someone else’s favorite nurse,”
“Is she now? Ah, so it’s not Rosemary, or Mocca, or Marjoram, or Olive—“
“H-hey!”
“Or Barley, Or Sakura, Or Sherry—“
“Alright, that was a very long time ago and she’s with Fossa now, everyone knows that,”
“Or Anise, Or Roselle, and not to mention… hmm, well, that one doesn’t really count, but you did say something about wanting to see him in a nurse outfit so Izou—“
“Ack! I thought you agree to keep that a secret!”
She couldn’t stifle her snickers and receive a glare for her efforts, though she was much more interested in the playful and conspiratorial wink she was given from behind that glare. The pompadoured man turned his head between them, eyes squinted and obviously miffed, but his lips twitched none too subtly, clearly amused and even a touch fond.
“Alright, alright, let me just get the hell away from here before i become the third wheel, you immature children,”
“Oh shit! Shit, she— she burned everyone! Get away! Get the fuck away before she gets here!”
“Stop! Please, we surrender! P-please, i don’t want to die!”
“Why are you out here this late?”
He’s startled by her, she can see as much from the jolt on his shoulders, and as he look up, she wasn’t oblivious to the ever so subtle way his hand reach up to his face to wipe something away. He didn’t even do a good job, because even in the darkness of night and with only some dim lighting, she can still see his red rimmed eyes.
“I…,” even his voice was coarse, and no matter how many times he tried to do away with it, it always came back the same. In the end, he sighed, resigned, and asked, “Is Pops still..?”
She pursed her lips, making her way over to his side and leaned back against the walls, sitting right to his opposite, “He should be stable, for now, anyway. All of the nurses are doing rotation to monitor his condition and i just finished my shift,”
It came to a shock for all of them, when in the middle of a calm day, their captain suddenly fell ill. Arrhythmia, as it turns out, a side effect from his new medication perceived nearly too late. It took them hours, nearly the entire day trying to stabilize him again, and the ship has to do an emergency embark in one of the nearest friendly territory. Now, they need to make sure he won’t relapse, and that the new medication they got will perform much better.
In other word, it’s been a damn long day, and all she wanted to do was go back to her room and crash until mid-day tomorrow. But all thoughts of rest was now gone out of her mind.
With a heavy sigh and barely stifled sob, he bowed his head down again, “He’s running out of time, isn’t he?”
(It made her heart ache just how small he sounded. Maybe she will never like pirates, but she understood and know intimately well the devastation of loss)
She heard stories from passing, about how he had been the very first crew member, a child taken out of a horrific life to lead the free life of a pirate. For over 20 years, he served under the same man, owing his freedom and life to him, and now his saviour, his father, is dying. Everyone else were listless and anxious, and she knows she was too, but he took it even deeper, lips bruised from hiding his own cries in the darkness, his hands trembling at his own words and his eyes doesn’t fit the intelligent and reasonable man he usually was, but that of a scared and lonely child.
Perhaps he took her silence as a confirmation, because he curled into himself again, shoulders quivering. Seeing him like this was painful, when the whole day he still stood tall, taking command like nothing had happened and kept everyone else in check with their concern. This is that dam breaking, she realized, the pillar of strength everyone counted on in these dark moments unable to hold himself up any longer, and need to seclude himself out of sight.
But he does it in front of her, allowing her to see this moment of weakness.
Before she knew it, it was like her body moved on its own when she reach out for him. With the level of gentleness she didn’t know she possessed, she tugged on his hand, gaining his attention and tugged again to get him to move. He complied like a weak rag doll, moving to her side and sat down slightly slumped. She can feel his mildly curious eyes watching her as she moved to a kneeling position, before sitting on her folded legs and pulling him down until he can lay his head on her lap, face up and eyes full of confusion.
“Ann…,”
She shushed him, “When he was younger, sometimes Luffy will have trouble sleeping because he had an overactive imagination. He’d have bad dreams, or he’ll get really scared or worried about something, so this is what i’ll do until he calms down,” she whispered softly, alternating between patting his head and carding her fingers through his hair softly, “It’s so he knows he’s not alone, that someone will watch over him while he sleeps and everything will be alright,”
He didn’t say anything, and as she began to hum a tune she once heard back in Foosha, his eyes began to flicker close and his chest rose and lowers evenly. It spoke of his level of exhaustion that it happened only in spans of minutes, and it pained her deeply, so much that she can feel her chest tightened at the sight of a single unshed teardrop that still pooled by the side of his eyes.
With her other hand, she used her thumb to wipe it away, and framed the side of his face with a ghost of a touch. He looked disturbed even in his sleep, too many worried lines and frown marring his features.
She bends down, her humming grows quiet, and she pressed her lips on those lines. He didn’t stir at all.
She had only ever heard of it from tales from Makino or bar patrons, or from those little books hidden in Dadan’s room. A feeling so different from what she felt for Luffy, for Sabo, for Thatch, Cotton and other nurses and pirates, even different from the one she had for Pops. Similar, yet different. Much heavier, but also much lighter, an emotion so powerful it made her physically feel something, sent a tingle down her spine, a fluttering in her stomach and made her heart skip.
Love. She’s in love.
And it was to a pirate.
“Sleep tight, Marco. I’ll watch over you too tonight,”
“Shoot her! Shoot her! Aim the cannon at her— Aaagh!”
“How?! B-but, the cannon was made of seastone! How did, how did a logia manage to—“
“B-b-b-but t-that’s… H-ha-Haoshoku Haki?!”
“What are you?!”
When Ann look up, finally aware, there was nothing else but a sea of fire around her. The source of the shoutings and anguished cries were from the men in front of her, huddled close around the bodies of their fallen comrades and the now destroyed cannon, clattering pathetically in pieces with myriad of seastone bullets rolling around, unaffected by her flames. The cannon that they had aimed at Moby, that they had used to hurt Pops.
The cannon that tore Marco apart and left him broken.
A wave of power left her, a weird, unfamiliar sensation that left a tingling sensation but somehow caused all of the men to buckle down to their knees, some of them with their eyes rolling backwards and falling down unconscious.
Ann raised one hand, and heard the cowering men scream.
The entire island was on fire.
Marco almost couldn’t believe his eyes. He knew something was wrong the moment he woke up, when he saw that there were a great number of civilians and even some men in marine uniform on board, all of them moving in chaos. The island was on fire, he heard being shouted upon his rushed exit, and people were still running up into Moby, trying to get aware from the rapidly growing flames.
“It’s Ann,” Thatch finally told him, warily and worriedly looking at the engulfed island, “She went… she went berserk after you fell unconscious. Wiped out the entire front line of the marines before she worked even deeper, burning everything around her. We tried to snap her out of it, but we can’t get close to her or risk being burned, and soon everything was on fire. We need to evacuate the townspeople and some of the marines who helped out,”
His heart fell to his stomach the moment he heard and realized he hadn’t seen her at all on board.
She’s still in the island.
Before he can move, however, a hand clasped his shoulder, holding him back. The 4th division commander’s voice was pained, “Don’t, i know you wanted to chase after her, but you can’t. The fire is much too strong, it’ll soon destroy the entire island,” at his silence, he continued, placing a hand on his shoulder, “She’s a logia, Marco, the fire can’t harm her. But you’ve only healed from having over 10 seastone bullets pumped to your body, you’re in no condition to go back there. You need to stay here and give us orders,“
He’s right, of course. It made sense. He had a responsibility, he needs to help Pops keep things in orders, he has his duties to attend to during this emergency.
But a crash sounded just by the shore, the first building to crash down by unrelenting fire.
And then he heard it, explosion, and his heart sank.
“Marco, no!”
It wasn’t just Thatch calling for him. He could hear other commanders and crew members frantically shouting his name, telling him to go back, that it’s too dangerous. He could even hear Pops, his own captain’s bellow, shaking the earth itself, commanding him to stay.
But he can’t.
If i were to ask you to choose between myself and your responsibility as a commander, as a pirate, will you be able to decide?
He wished he could turn back time to that night, give her a different answer.
Because it wasn’t until this moment, as he flies into the unbearable heat, ignoring the burn that consumed him faster than his flames can heal did he realize what his real answer should’ve been.
Ann felt tired. Drained. Lethargic. Her entire body was still on fire, burning everything she made contact with, and they won’t die down, no matter how much she tried.
She had chased after the last of the marines into some sort of a makeshift fort, but on her way out, the wooden structure had given out, blocking her exit. Behind her, she can hear even more crash, completely burying the burned remnants of bodies she had left behind, but also trapping her even further. She’s pretty sure by now that the ship has left, trying to save themselves from the fire, so she’d doubt any help will be coming. Surrounded by her own flames, flames she no longer has control over, Ann felt weak. No matter how hard she tried, they won’t die down, and soon the whole building is going to collapse with her in it.
But even with that revelation, she couldn’t have it in her to move.
She’s just too tired.
When the first tear fell - and within seconds quickly evaporated from the extreme heat - she cursed herself. How pathetic. Is this really how things will end for her? Being crushed by a burning building? What will Luffy say? What will Gramps say? After all the threats she made to chase him away, all the talk about dropping a building on him if he won’t stop hounding Luffy and herself to not be pirates, he’ll laugh himself to death and meet her in the afterlife to laugh some more. Luffy will probably ended up making buildings his mortal enemy and proceed to sleep only in ships or jungles, because that’s the kind of person he is.
Maybe it won’t be so bad. Her death was long overdue anyway. 20 years of it.
And Marco will be there.
Even through her sobs, she can’t help laughing a little. What a day full of irony. First, the man who can’t be harmed died from being repeatedly harmed, a broken bird, splattered on Moby Dick’s deck. Died to protect his captain, the man whose demise he always feared, but at least, he doesn’t have to be afraid anymore, doesn’t have to feel so burdened all the time.
And now her, a fire logia is going to die in fire.
Together in death.
But they aren’t even together.
The thought of it was somber, even more than her inevitable death in this place. Maybe… maybe if she had put aside her reservations, then even for a moment, she could’ve have him. She wouldn’t have to look at that bleeding, dead body thinking, regretting all of the missed chances. Maybe if she had told him what she wanted all those nights ago instead of that dumb question, instead of making him chose, then her last memory of him won’t be wishing that she could talk to him again and wishing she had the courage to stop avoiding him for the last few days.
At least her parents had been happy in their short time together.
She can’t even have that with Marco.
Another crash sounded behind her, even closer and in a larger magnitude. The entire structure is coming down, she can hear from the incessant cracking, and she took a deep breath, closed her eyes and braced herself.
“Ann!”
Something broke nearby.
“Ann! Where are you?!”
Ann’s eyes snapped open. But… that can’t be.
“Marco?” she tried to find where exactly the voice came from, but as soon as she moved, the wooden floor beneath her suddenly gave away, letting out a crash and creating a hole that would’ve caused her to fall if she had been too slow to move away. Ann let out a yelp and crawled backward, heart thumping at the close call, and she felt her heart sank when she heard another resounding crack only to realize that it didn’t come from anywhere near her.
Dropping down from the now broken rooftop like a fallen angel, blue in the sea of red was indeed Marco, panting and eyes wild, scanning around the desolate room. He paused briefly on the sight of the dead marines, and looked painfully relieved at the broken cannon, but none of that amount to the moment his eyes met hers, “Ann!” he called out again, quickly taking a step to her when the floor underneath his foot gave out as well, nearly making him stumble, “Ann, you have to stop this! This entire place will come down soon! Call off the fire!”
“I can’t!” she shouted back, spine tensing when she can hear and felt the tremor from the floor beneath her. It’s not going to last, “I’ve tried but they won’t die down!”
Marco looked distressed, and with a single flap he went airborne again, gliding towards her.
“Don’t come any closer!” Ann warned him, stopping him on his tracks, “I told you, i can’t stop the fire. You’ll get burned!”
“I need to get you out of here,” he replied, still flying closely and over the obstacles that had trapped her. He perched on a fallen pillar, transforming one of his wings back into human arms and reach out for her, “Come on, Ann, take my hand. I’ll get us out of here,”
She wanted to reach out, but she looked down at her burning hands, fire still exuding out of her every pores, and shook her head, “I can’t. I’ll burn you,”
“I can’t be hurt,”
“Yes, you can,”
Marco’s hand faltered, and she knows her pain was visible in her words. It didn’t matter if the instrument that wounded him was now destroyed, he’s not infallible, and she refused to be another cause for his injuries.
Around them, the building started to collapse, slowly and punishingly loud, with every corners and walls crying out as they started to give away. The ground vibrated as rubbles began to fall from what’s left of the roof, and Ann’s stomach sank when she felt the floor beneath her creak even more, groaning under her weight and the damage encroaching their very foundations. She didn’t even have time to scream when the floor finally gave away, and her stomach lurched as she lose against gravity.
“Ann!”
Suddenly, she stopped falling, and instead, she started flying.
“Hold on tight!” the bird she had fallen on top of commanded, as it manouvered through the falling rocks and angry fire around them. Ann stared, hands already taking purchase on the blue flaming feathers and she laid down to wrapped her arms around the Phoenix’s long neck, holding on like her life depended on it.
Before she knew it, she was out of the marine’s fort, mere seconds before the entire place burned down and was reduced to a heap of rubbles. The entire city outside of the fort was still burning tall and bright, with many other homes and structures already suffering the same fate as the one she managed to escape out of. The Phoenix stopped in the middle of the plaza, where even the fountain had stopped working, the statue on the top turning ashen black and what clear water that was supposed to flow in it evaporating to nothingness.
The bird she held on top was no longer a bird, but a man a head taller than her, who quickly framed her face with both of his arms, eyes darting all over her, before pulling her into an embrace, “Fuck, thank goodness,” she heard him murmur to the crown of her head, the arms around her tightening their grip. His fire and hers mingled, dancing around and inside each other, cancelling one another, “What were you thinking? When i was told that you… Fuck, fuck, Ann, i’m so glad,”
“You’re alive,” was all she could say, realization dawning and adrenaline finally out of her entire system, causing her knees to feel like jelly. To avoid falling, she leaned on to Marco, wrapping both of her arms around his neck loosely, “You came for me,”
“Of course i will. I’ll always come to you,” the blonde pulled away just slightly, enough for her to look at his face, to look at the hard conviction and assurance in his eyes, as opposed to his soft voice, just above a whisper for her, “It’s always going to be you, above all else,”
And just like that, he leaned down, and she met him halfway, both all too eager, both with too munch longing and the need for each other, letting all reservations and their worries go.
The moment their lips met, everything dissolved from Ann’s mind. The roar of her fire thrummed in her ear as loud as her rushing blood, and within the heat on her skin, the cold breeze of Marco’s own began to reach for her, enveloping her. She let his arms pull her close, the same way she held on to him, never wanting to let go. There’s no longer concern for the world around them, the destruction, nothing mattered as her lips moved against his and felt nothing but solace.
Around them, long forgotten, the roar of flames the colour of dusk and dawn began to dwindle into nothingness, leaving only two so close silhouette it became one in the midst of burned ashes.
-END-